The Australian writer Peter Carey won the Booker Prize tonight for his novel ''True History of the Kelly Gang,'' which tells the story of Ned Kelly, the 19th-century Australian outlaw. Mr. Carey also won the prize, Britain's most important literary award, in 1988 for ''Oscar and Lucinda.'' He is only the second author in the 33-year history of the prize to win it more than once.

For the novelist Peter Carey, there are three great Australian stories: the battle at Gallipoli in World War I; the life and death of the champion racehorse Phar Lap, and, most tantalizingly, Ned Kelly.

When Peter Carey read ''Great Expectations,'' he was ''mad at Dickens for giving my imaginary ancestor a bad rap.'' That ''ancestor'' is Magwitch, the fierce convict who endows the orphan Pip with his wealth.

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